Hi everyone,
I need your help.
I am writing an article about how jewelry designers began their careers/hobbies/avocations.
I would be interested in you sharing your stories.
Some of the questions I want to explore in my article:
1) How did you get started making jewelry? motivations, intentions, whether the start was very dramatic or mundane, whether you thought it was fate, destiny, luck, personal choice. Was there a particular point in time, or some kind of evolution?
2) What was your first moment of validation like? Not when you started making jewelry per se, but when you started telling people and feeling like an ‘artist’ or ‘designer’. It might have been a quiet admission, coming out to yourself as an artist. It might have been something public, like selling a piece, exhibiting it, some reaction from a client. It might have been some kind of break-through or finding newness or inspiration. It might have been a feeling of originality. A lot of people make jewelry, and can be very talented at it, but do not consider themselves as ‘artists’ or ‘designers’.
3) To what extent did beginning as a jewelry artist/designer feel like a response to society or family or local culture? Art doesn’t exist only because of feelings and emotions. There is a complex infrastructure within which the jewelry designer needs in order to survive. How would you describe this infrastructure within which you work and because of it you can survive. To what extent does it help you to enhance your work and vocation? To what extent does it impede you?
4) Were there special circumstances that were critical in your beginning and development as a jewelry artist/designer? Were there specific excitements, anxieties, challenges you faced?
5) For you, was there a beginning, and then a beginning again? Describe how difficult it was to begin again. How did it feel/seem to question or know whether you could create again?
6) What kinds of things have enabled you to keep going as a jewelry artist/designer? What contributed to your ability to survive your creative life?
I may or may not reference what you share in my final article. Unless you specifically tell me it’s OK, I will not use anyone’s real name in my article.
I appreciate you taking the time to share. I know a lot of jewelry designers and would-be jewelry designers can learn a lot from your experiences.
Warren
warren@landofodds.com
That’s it for now! There is a lot of creative expression all around the world right now. Hope you get to experience a lot of it, either first hand, or through social media online.
WSF
